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Chronicles: Act II
Act II This is a recounting of Act II, which picks up right after the Interlude between Acts I and II. Discovery Aria and Yerbol relay their vision to the remaining Masters, who advocate a cautioned approach but also to explore whatever leads they can follow up on. With some help from Vano, the duo review files pulled from the archives of Quensu to discover reports not only of a gigantic glacial range that had "whisperings" floating around the base of the range, but also in a grove near the old True Sith academy on Quensu. Deciding to check out the grove first, they land in the stormy environment. The forested area before the grove's location holds the whisperings of random phrases and sayings, but one chant grows in volume above the rest. Upon reaching the grove, Renso reaches out to the duo and implores them to find the old True Sith Master on Nuncata near a place with stone pillars, but before a specific location can be given, the stone barrier that marked the end of the grove breaks open. Three Chiss-like figures emerge barely clothed, hissing the label of Sith at the duo before attacking with a barrage of ferocious melee attacks coupled with lightning conjured by the Force. Some assistance is provided by the Force ghost of Roan to Aria, aiding in the defeat of the trio, but not before they proclaim their identity as Xiis and seek to "destroy all the Sith who did this to them". Shaken but determined, the duo return to their ship and find Nuncata along with the location Renso prompted them to find. They descend to the center of a marshy area with crumbling stone pillars and a gaping entrance tunneled into a cliffside. They enter to find a weakened Renso Kator, who explains that his ability to channel the Force has managed to keep him alive. He then projects memories into the central chamber that the Champions found him in, allowing them to see the failed genetic experimentation on the ancestors of the Chiss, named the Xiis. Renso attempted to cull the genetic flaws of the Xiis, seeing as he saw the potential they had with the Force but wanted to destroy their "disposition" towards brutality and violence. Renso's projects eventually fail, leading the old Master to shut down the project entirely, but not before earning the never-ending hatred of The Five, powerful Xiis that lead a rebellion against Renso and the True Sith. Although The Five were frozen in stasis pods and power cut off, they too learned the ability to channel the Force to sustain their life energies, although by the time Renso and the Champions meet, they are barely hanging on to their lives. Enter Illesia, the proclaimed "mouthpiece" of The Five who is brought back to life by an unwitting Alliance squadron of scientists and soldiers scouting out a remote planet for colonization by the brand new government. By toying with some of the ancient control panels left dormant for millennia, Illesia and some of her followers regained consciousness and slaughtered the entire team, the former exploiting one of the many powers she inherited from the genetic experimentation performed on her by Renso to literally drain the life energies out of the squadron and direct said energy to not only her brethren, but The Five, who she seeks to restore. Knowing the threat at hand, Renso offers to teach Yerbol and Aria the philosophy of Balance which defined the True Sith as an order. Not only would they propagate the teaching through their example and relaying to the newly formed Council, but also sharpen their own abilities in preparation to take down the Xiis. After a brief discussion, the duo agree. Birth of the Qyaari For two weeks Aria and Yerbol train under the tutelage of the old Master, learning as much as they could during that time. At the end of two weeks, Renso's already failing strength collapses. He grants them two crystals that each can use to further their own individual training before taking his last breath, Yerbol and Aria laying the body to rest in hope that he truly achieved the harmony he sought for near the end of his prolonged and painful life. With their training completed(albeit abruptly), the duo return to Zinuthra to relay what they learned. This leads to discussion between the Council members, who agree that it would be high time to not only form an Order that builds upon the principles of Balance and Harmony that Renso believed in, but to propel those teachings into the modern era. More discourse leads to deciding that they would form the new Order's name based on the High Sith language, a tribute to the past and a "starting over" for the former Jedi and Sith. Eventually the name "Qyaari" is decided upon. Literally translated, Qyaari means "Lords of the Force", a powerful label that will brand Force users as not just "light" or "dark", but masters of their abilities, bodies and minds. The Council of Elders uses this opportunity to ordain Yerbol and Aria "Champions", signifying their status as powerful members of the Qyaari. Nar Shaddaa goes dark During this meeting of Elders, Chancellor Saresh holo-calls with a request for help. Nar Shaddaa, which was the site used for economic talks between the Alliance and some of the more willing Hutts, had gone completely quiet. Communication lines were down and any attempt to reach the Hutt world by other Hutts vanished into thin air. Deciding to act quickly, the Council decides to send Yerbol and Aria to investigate, Saresh imploring for Havoc Squad to be sent as well. The team departs as quickly as possible to be greeted by radio silence when approaching the planet. This quiet pervades the normally bustling streets, Havoc and the Champions discovering that the quiet is symptomatic of the bodies that littered the streets. Hutt patrols, civilians, Nar Shaddaa security and gang members alike were cut down in the most brutal manner possible. After some recon work and deciding that heading to the Alliance embassy would be the first and easiest route, the squadron moves to the top level of the Promenade where they encounter two Xiis warriors that attack with no hesitation. After exchanging blows, the combined efforts of Havoc and the Champions kill the attackers, allowing them the ability to explore the Alliance embassy unhindered. They discover highlighted maps among the carnage that route downward past a section of the planet called "The Works" along with holorecords that report discovering "ruins". The squadron decides to follow the maps, leading them to a descent into the heart of Nar Shaddaa's sewer systems. Following the sewage system to a dead end, the team discovers a hatch that, when opened, reveals a massive circular chamber about one hundred feet below. With another descent, the team splits up into two squadrons and explores passageways that naturally split off from the main chamber. Both teams encounter numerous Xiis, which push them back into the circular chamber. With seemingly endless numbers, the Xiis seem set to overwhelm the team when Abbeth identifies a passage behind them that can be cleared using explosives. Managing to keep the Xiis occupied, Havoc gives Abbeth enough time to blow a hole just big enough for one person at a time to crawl through. The Champions defend Havoc's evacuation just as a female Xiis appears, taming the others into quiet submission as she proclaims that the duo are "ripe for consumption" before shooting summoned flames from her fingertips. Yerbol jumps in front of the flames and throws up a barrier, imploring Aria to escape with Havoc. While she resists at first, the Champion leaves, Yerbol collapsing in exhaust. Havoc and Aria make their way to an abandoned med facility where they run into a seedy hacker and smuggler by the name of Junoco, who help patch them up in exchange for passage off-world, which they grant under the threat of disposing Junoco's body without a trace and making sure he helped them in the effort to the stop Xiis. Street fights on Coruscant Havoc and Aria return to Zinuthra, the latter attempting to contact Yerbol through their shared bond. A few hours later, it is Yerbol that reaches out and pleads for her to find him. This is a momentary communique, but Aria is able to isolate the sounds and senses that Yerbol felt during the exchange to figure out that he was being kept "underground" somewhere. This information is relayed to Cheriss, who along with the other Council members decide to send Alliance platoons to Coruscant and Taris, two planets where underground networks are extant. Voldon volunteers to go with Aria and the Tuk'ata to Coruscant, the duo leaving with Junoco and troopers to find that the entire Undercity of the capital world has been fraught with gang violence, said gangs attempting to wrest control of Coruscant from Alliance personnel. With some help from Junoco, Voldon and Aria obtain a working map of the Undercity, plunging ever deeper into the bowels of the planet. Both Chwuq and Taral pick up on a scent that is familiar to them and follow it, the Qyaari following the animals into maintenance corridors that run below the Undercity streets. Reaching a dead end, the dogs sniff at a wall that Voldon suspects is hollowed out. After demolishing said wall, a drab hallway is revealed with a door at the very end of it. Behind the door is a severely injured Yerbol, who Voldon is able to heal just enough to get the Champion on his feet and up onto a nearby freight elevator. They carve their way through gang members, Voldon doing much of the work as Aria helps her partner along, eventually making it back to the entrance of the Undercity. It is there that they witness explosions go off at various points along the infrastructure of the Upper City and Undercity, the Xiis having planted explosives in order to cripple support heading towards the Alliance tower. Yerbol is nursed back to health by a pair of Twi'leks at a med bay nearby while Voldon goes on ahead to the Alliance tower, fetching Junoco to aid in locking down the tower from the Xiis. Yerbol tells Aria about Illesia's plan to destabilize the Alliance government by slaughtering Saresh and her cabinet along with destroying key structures on the planet. Thankfully Yerbol is able to get to his feet in time to help Aria get to the tower, but not on the main thoroughfares of the Upper City, seeing as many of the gangs had already made it to the surface and were currently launching a full on assault of the Alliance tower. With Voldon and Junoco's assistance, Alliance soldiers tasked with protecting the tower get a breather by way of a security lockdown that Junoco enables. The smuggler sends news of their small victory to the duo as well as a safer path to the tower through more maintenance tunnels. Yerbol and Aria make their way to the Tower where they, Junoco and Voldon meet with Saresh and her cabinet in their protected War Room to discuss a strategy to defeat the soon coming Illesia. With some plotting, the assembled group decide to lure Illesia into a trap by placing Saresh in her office, the three Qyaari hiding in the shadows in the waiting area just outside. When Illesia appears, the office doors would slam shut and Saresh could make an escape through an emergency access hatch built into her office as a security precaution for moments such as these. Junoco arms the towers defense systems while the trio wait in the office, Xiis bounding towards Saresh's location stopped in their tracks by turrets, cryo beams and other security measures that are able to neutralize the incoming threats. Except for Illesia. The lead Xiis appears in Saresh's office and is ambushed by the trio of Qyaari, who quickly find out after battling with her for several minutes that her abilities only grow in power as she feeds off the chaos caused by the fight. Tapping into a power taught to him by Renso, Yerbol manages to seclude himself just far enough from Illesia's clutches to sever her connection to the Force. As he plucks away at her connection, Aria, Voldon and the Tuk'ata manage to wear away at her defenses until she flees by jumping out a nearby window, aware that she will have to regroup from her failed attempt. This grants a reprieve to Yerbol and Aria, who are able to head back to Zinuthra and recover from the trauma of recent weeks. The Academy